Refrigerator display case



my m 1935 R. P. DAEMICKE 220085203 REFRIGERATOR DISPLAY CASE Filed'lvxay 5, 1954 i "wf/ww :f/Z

'Patented July 16, 1935 REFRIGERATOR DISPLAY cAsE Roland P. Daemicke, Chicago, Ill., assignor lto The Daemicke Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application May 5, 1934`,s`eria1N0`. 724,090

` 5 claims. (c1. `625-103) My invention relates to a refrigerated service display case or `counter for perishable articles of food such as meat and thelike; the invention having for its object the provisionof a construcl5 tion whereby increased eiiicien'cy and economical refrigeration are produced and the food-stus'or meatsv will be maintained in the desired chilled condition not only by `contact on one side with the chilled bottom of the case or a cold'conducting tray but also by cold air contacting with `the other or upper sideof the article lalso.

The invention also has for its object the provision of a construction wherein defrosting of .the refrigerator elements iseliminated and dehydra- 15 tion of the food-studs is 'to a great extent avoided; va construction wherein free coils and radiating fins are eliminated, while on the other hand a hold-over of the low tenflperature is had -after thev refrigerator apparatus has been shut down, 1

Another object of theinvention isa construc- -tion whereinthe cooling elementsin the upper 'part of the display case are'encased in a conducting and cold temperature retaining material which is so arranged that the condensate which occursand accumulates on my improved chilling unit will be conveyed to theV display case exterior without 4coming into contact Vwith l'the foodstuiis'or meats. i

The objects and advantages of my invention will be readily comprehended from fthe followying detailed descriptionY of -the `embodiment of "my invention as disclosed'in the accompanying drawing, wherein: Y Y

Figure "1' is a cross sectional view througha Vdisplay casefinvolving my invention. 'Figure 2 isa sectionaljview Vtaken substan- `tiallyfon',thejlinen2-2 of Figure 1 lookingin the ydirection of the arrows 1 Y Y, l

40 t Figure 3 is a perspective `view of Aa portion of the cooling element, also shown in section, Aand -oneoftheholding brackets. f

My invention relates ytoa refrigerator .display case especially intended Yfor Vcontaining and `dis- .playing meats and-other Yfood-stuffs which require 1a. proper temperature while on display; the `in vent-ion involving, in addition to the refrigerating ,coils'rgenerally `disposed, in the bottom `ofV the case, refrigerating means arranged in thelupper` part of '-the-case-so as to provide a cold air -current `above and on the upper sides of `the cuts `of ,meatsor other food-stuffsarranged in the case.

Thezspecific type of display case illustrated involves .a suitable rsupporting lower portion or 5 frame I0; 1whilethe, upper :portion .constitutes the rear or salesmans side involves suitable slide panels or doors as at vIi arranged in slideways disposed in different planes to vpermit independent movement of each `panel longitudinally of the CaSe.

l The front andV rear sides of the case are preferably arranged at suitable'and diierent inclinal tions to .permit proper visibility of the case .con-

tents; and the bottom of the vcase is preferably arranged 'at an inclination as shown.

I .Myinventionrelates `to a Amechanically refrigeratedvcase; andtherefore the bottom and rear lower portion of the case is provided with vre- `frigerating `coils as at I3 arranged lengthwise of ythe case and connected by suitable ingoing and outgoing `pipes as usual which lead to a mechanical refrigerating unitlocated at a suitable or distant place. The bottom involves a wall rof suitable insulating .material as atl4, on top .of whichis Vacomparatively thick layer of waterproof and at the Sametime cold conducting material I5 in which the coils I3 are embedded. With the insulatingmaterial vI4 beneath and the coils vfully .covered `or encased, the coils are sealedV against aircand the cold practically entirely transmitted xto the topfof the bottom of the case and `on whichjtrays containing the foodstuffs or meats 'are generally placed.

It has been found in practice `that while that `portion ofthe `food-stuffs or meats in immediate contact with the cold bottom slabzma'y be .suil'iciently chilled,such Vportions of the food-stuis which maybe .somewhat removed from or above `the lbo'ttom of the case may not bel suiiiciently chilled, especially where the slide doors or panels "-I'Z `have `been frequently opened, allowing inrush lof warm air.l This warmerair will, of course, accumulate inthe upper part ofthe display case and hence be in contact with the upper sides of the food-stuis, v,especially if they are somewhat above the bottom of the display case. i

4It has therefore been found desirable to arrange cooling coils above the bottom of the case in an effort` to `obtain a` greater chilling of the .interior of the case and its contents.

The arrangement of the coils, however, has been found objectionable vin `many ways, because of ,improper dehydration `ofv the food-stuffs. Then,r too, the heat absorbing or air cooling `period is very short livedafter the refrigerating `unitlhas been `shut down; 4the .open `coils also necessitating frequent defrosting during which periods the display case is out of use.

In order to overcome these serious objections, I provide the upper part of the case with a chilling slab as at IB composed of molded .temperature conducting material. rllhis slab Ilrinvolves one or more refrigerator pipes or coils as at I'I (see Figure 3) which are completely embedded or encased in a suitable cold resistingand conducting plastic material indicated at I8, which at the same time will retain its refrigerating teinperature for a considerable period of time.

After the coils (of suitable number and length) have been embedded in the molded material or composition, the lower part of the slabV is provided with a covering of insulating material as at IQ to prevent condensation; and the slab with the layer of covering of insulating material is then provided with a metallic covering, preferably a sheet of stainless steel or of porcelain enamel, as indicated at 2Q.

This metallic sheet 2li is bent about the slab in intimatecontact with the slab so as to radiate the temperature thereof, except at the lower portion or end where the sheet encloses the insulating material IS. Y

In the particular exemplication of the invention, my improved slab I6 is shown with two coils Il and the slab arranged to slope downwardly toward one longitudinal side at which lowest point of the slab I prefer to provide the insulating material I9. f'

The sheet metal covering 2D is bent so" that thelower side of this cooling unit involves the sloping lower side 2i which terminates at its longitudinal edge in the 'outwardly bent or curled trough portion 22; and theoppositely sloping lower side 23 which 'contacts with sloping side 2i`and has its longitudinal edge bent or curled outwardly into a trough forming portion 2, `The contacting portions of the two oppositelysloping .bottom sides 2i and 23 are pref-V erably intimately secured together andv communication between the two troughs 22 and 24 is preferably established by means of a suitable number of holes as at 25, see Figure 3.

The valley formed between the two troughs and the outer surfaces of the troughs are then preferably iilled and provided witha suitable insulation as at 26, which may be held in place by an outer covering of suitable material or sheet'metal as at 2l.

The lower part of the coil containing'slab and the troughs of the covering are preferably insulated as shown to prevent said portions being chilled to the same degree as the remainder or 'upper part of the unit and hence to reduce condensation 'at the lower part of the unit; while the condensate which accumulates on the upper or main portion of the unit will flow down the sloping top toward the sloping bottom wall 23 and enter trough 2li, and the condensate on the other side of the unit will flow down lower wall 2l into trough 22j As trough 22 is disposed in a lower horizontal plane than trough V215, the

condensate gathered by trough 24 will flow through the communicating holes 25 into trough 22, one end whereof is intended to be connected or have communication withga suitable discharge conduit V(not shown) whereby the accumulated condensate will be conveyedtorthe desired point or to the case exterior. With this construction 'it is-apparent that condensation will not drip onto or come into Contact with the food-stuffs.

Instead of forming the unit I6 asV heretofore covering 20 thereto, the cooling unit in actual Y practice is made by first forming the covering 20, then inserting the desired cooling coil or coils therein through the open Yend ofthe covering while the covering element 20 is set on end.

After the coil or coils have been inserted into the formed covering 2i) and properly positioned so as to present the coil or coils close to the top wall of the covering, the liqueed or heated temperature conducting composition is poured into the open end of the covering 20 and allowed to set or solidify. I find that a very eicient temperature conducting and temperature holding compound may be formed by using either crushed stone or metal filings and asphalt, mixed in proper proportions and so manipulated or treated as to cause the crushed stone or metal filings to contact with the refrigerating coils and with each other; a quantity` of asphalt being employed merely suicient to act as a binder and to maintain the intimate relation between the coils, crushed Vstone-or metal filings-and the outer metal covering; the whole forming a chilling unit which will retain its air chilling condition for a considerable period of time after operation of the refrigerator apparatus has been discontinued; that is to say, my improved unit has a considerable hold-over capacity Vwhich. is not obtainablerwith exposed coils as heretofore employed in the upper portions of display cases Y of the type here under consideration.

Thecooling unit is secured to the top wall of the display case by brackets as shown at 28; a sufficient number of brackets being employed. The brackets are formed. with depending sides which in turn terminate in inwardly bent ends 29 and 38 which slope toward each other and are adapted to extend beneath the sloping bottom portion 2l and sloping bottom portion 23 ofthe casing or covering 20; Vthe lengths and inclinations of the two depending ends of the brackets 28 differing as shown in Figure 1 in order that the longitudinal side of the unitrhaving sloping bottom wall 2| will be held slightly above the plane of the other longitudinal side. This causes, any condensate which may gather on top of the unit to flow as heretofore-described.

Withthe brackets formed as shown, the unit can edgewisely be forced into the brackets after the latter have been secured to the top of the case. After the unit IG has been put into place, proper connections between the protruding open 'ends of the coils I1 and the incoming and outgoing or return pipes of the refrigerator apparatus or system are then made whereby the refrigerating medium from the refrigerator apparatus may be introduced into the coilor coils of unit I6,a1- lowed to iiow into coils or pipes I3 and from there' be conveyed back to the refrigerator apparatus.

kIt is apparent that the cooling unit I E may involve as many refrigerant pipesor coils as desired and that the number of drain 4troughs, may

also vary if desired; the troughs being prefer-V ably arranged as shown so that all condensate may be conveyed to one trough to be conveyed by means of a single conduit to a point of discharge.

drying out of the contents of the case will be prevented and the foodstuff thus kept in better condition.

The invention is believed to be set forth in its simplest embodiment and has been described in terms which are not contemplated as terms of limitation because modifications are possible and may be made without departingy from the spirit of my invention as dened in the claims hereinafter.

What I `claim is:

l. in a refrigerator'display case of the character described, a refrigerating unit comprising an outer metallic casing provided with a condensate collecting trough adapted to drain, a refrigerant medium containing coil arranged in said casing, and a ller of temperature conducting material disposed about said coil in intimate relation therewith and with said casing, the lower side of the ller and outer side of said trough being provided with insulating material to prevent condensation and dripping.

2. In a refrigerator display caseof the character described, a refrigerating unit comprising an elongated metal casing provided with opposingly sloping bottom walls each terminating in a trough portion, a refrigerant medium receiving coil arranged lengthwise in said casing, and a plastic temperature conducting and retaining compound filler for said casing and disposed about the coil and in intimate contact with the casing.

3. In a refrigerator display case of the character described, a refrigeratingunit adapted to be disposed in the upper part of the case, comprising an elongated metal casing provided with a sloping top and two side walls arranged to slope downwardly toward each other and `each terminating in a trough portion, with the trough at one side arranged in a plane above that of the other with communicating ports therebetween, a refrigerant medium receiving coil arranged lengthwise in said casing and a iiller of plastic temperature conducting compound moulded about the-coil and in intimate relation with the coil and the casing, and means whereby said unit may be suspended from the top of the display case.

4. In a refrigerator display case of the character described, a refrigerating unit comprising an outer casing of cold radiating material formed to provide a sloping top wall, two side vwalls and two opposingly sloping bottom walls and each terminating in an outwardly disposed condensate collect'mg trough, the troughs being arranged in different Vhorizontal planes and communicating with each other by moisture conveying ports, said troughs sloping toward one end of the unit, a refrigerant medium containing coil arranged in said casing, a ller of temperature conducting material disposed about said coil and in intimate relation with the casing, and insulating material in the lower part of said casing and about the lower sides of said troughs.

5. In a refrigerator display case of the character described, a refrigerating unit comprising an elongated outer metallic casing provided with a top and two side walls and bottom walls sloping toward each other, each of said'bottom walls terminating in an outwardly flared trough portion, said bottom walls being secured together and provided with openings therethrough for establishing communication between the trough portions, one of said trough portions being ar- `ranged in a horizontal plane above that of the other, refrigerant medium-containing coils disposed lengthwise in said casing, a ller of temperature conducting material disposed about the Ycoils and in intimate contact with the walls of 

